That eclectic mix has prompted too many quick invocations of the F-word -- Fishbone, the irrepressible funksters from Los Angeles -- when describing FOC. It`s an accurate-but-lazy comparison.

At the Ambassador Bar in Deerfield Beach on a weeknight not long ago, the band played a freewheeling set to a nearly empty room, devoid of all bodies except devoted fans and girlfriends.

With no crowd, they played full-tilt FOC for the barstools, for the floor tiles, for the dusty surfboards on the wall.

And they rocked the place, as they will on Saturday when they perform with the Groove Thangs, venerable blue-eyed soulsters from the North Broward Delta, at Washington Square in Miami Beach.

Or try them next Friday, the 31st, at Churchills Hideaway in Miami, and at a benefit concert at the Button South on Aug. 31.

Either way, you`ll be right.

-- For those too young to remember, or too old to care, let me set the scene:

It`s 1982. Punk is flagging, art rock is dead, folk was buried in an ice cave somewhere, and the once-underground sounds of New Wave have been co-opted by that brash video upstart MTV.

There is a lot of good music: Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, the Blasters, X, U2 before they became bloated pop icons, the re-formed King Crimson, and so on.

And there is a lot of awful noise, those bad songs of yesterday destined to become the cherished memories of tomorrow`s twentysomethings, who are today`s tasteless teens -- weaned on a unhealthy musical diet of bland pop radio, MTV and corporate rock `n` roll.

But there`s hope.

Wave goodbye to Ground Zero, a Monday afternoon radio show on WKPX (88.5 FM) that purported to play all the lost hits of the Eighties. You know, those classics, such as Der Kommissar by Falco; anything by the execrable Wang Chung; the throwaway ditty Mexican Radio by Wall of Voodoo (but rarely anything by the band`s brilliant lead singer, Stan Ridgeway); and the brainless Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go by Soft Cell.

Grow up. Please.

But the show may end on Aug. 10 with a marathon session if its hosts, two well-meaning but misguided Piper High School students, get their way.

Imagine the effect on one`s brain of nine hours of bad early Eighties pop. For the equivalent physical sensation, walk into a British pub with a dartboard painted on your back.

Got the picture? Happy listening.

-- Poke your head in the door of Uncle Sam`s Musicafe any time this weekend and prepare for an education, courtesy of 22 bands bringing their talents together to support Rock for Choice. The organization supports an amalgam of issues, including reproductive and voting rights, and is squarely behind efforts to end censorship.

The event begins tonight and runs through Sunday, with the music poised to flow at 7 p.m. Washington Square is at 1141 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach. For a full lineup and information, call 532-0973.

-- Note to readers: This is my last article for Showtime! Alas, I`m headed for the North country for a post at The Boston Globe.

To all the people whose talent has been column fodder for the past four years, thank you.